This invention relates to athletic shoes, and particularly to athletic shoes having rotatable traction pads that facilitate quick turning maneuvers. The invention has application to various types of athletic shoes, including basketball shoes, tennis shoes, baseball shoes, football shoes, dance shoes, cheerleader shoes, aerobic workout shoes, and specialized work boots.
In various sports activities a person may be required to swivel his foot to execute a change of direction. My U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,478 discloses a sports shoe equipped with a rotatable traction pad for enabling the person to execute a directional change without unduly stressing the person""s ankle. During a turning maneuver the traction pad becomes anchored to the ground (or floor surface, while the shoe rotates around the traction pad rotational axis, whereby the person""s foot can rotate with the rest of his body. The traction pad has features, whereby it can be easily removed from the shoe for cleaning the pad or removing debris that might interfere with pad rotation. Another traction pad is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,561 issued to B. M. Cameron.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,478 the mechanism for rotatably mounting the traction pad is located in a circular cavity formed in the bottom surface of the shoe sole. In some cases, particularly with shoe soles that are relatively thin or lack strength, the cavity might unduly weaken the sole. In some cases the cavity might enable the traction pad to punch through or deform the sole, making the shoe uncomfortable to wear.
The present invention is concerned with an athletic shoe having a rotatable traction pad that is at least partially contained within a circular cavity formed in the bottom surface of the shoe sole, with the cavity being relatively shallow so that the cavity does not unduly weaken the shoe sole. In preferred practice of the invention the traction pad is rotatably supported by means of an anti-friction bearing that is contained within an annular bearing housing that is adhesively bonded to the circular side surface of the cavity.
With such an arrangement the load forces on the traction pad are largely distributed to relatively thick areas of the shoe sole surrounding the circular cavity (not to the roof area of the cavity). By spreading the load forces into relatively thick areas of the sole it comes possible to maintain the overall strength of the shoe sole, the ensure a comfortable fit of the shoe on the person""s foot. The invention has particular application to shoes that have relatively thin soles.